The Dragon Keeper

Chp 2

We made it through the first few classes with no more incidents, luckily, and finally lunch rolled around. Everyone made their way to the cafeteria, other then Aiden, blissfully unaware of our plans. I grinned to myself as I sat down with both Aiden and I's trays, but my smile fell when three men in black -real funny Kendra- with guns burst into the room, masks covering their faces as they waved their weapons around.

I scowled and quietly went back to eating my food. I couldn't believe Aiden had gone against me and got a few friends in on it. I shook my head softly, glancing back over at the group. The men would pull kids over to them and then shove them away, telling them to sit against the wall. Their voices carried around the now quiet cafeteria and I felt a chill go down my spine.

This isn't Aiden.

I hurriedly pulled out my phone and shot him a quick text, barely having the time to click send before the device was smacked from my hand and the guy that seemed to be the leader was glaring down at me.
"There goes three years of my allowance." I muttered, letting my eyes drift down to his clothing. It was all very simple, black. He was wearing a black turtleneck and black khaki's, but what really peaked my interest was the black tattoo on his wrist, shaped like a sun, moon and star all together.
It was small enough to miss, but I had to make sure I caught on to every detail.

Unlike with the other kids he looked back at his buddies and nodded, pointing a pistol at my chest. My eyes widened and I went to take a step back, only to freeze as a furious Aiden slammed the cafeteria door open, his eyes burning.
The strange men not pointing a weapon at me went for Aiden, not bothering to be gentle as they slammed him into the floor.

"It'll be ok Ken. Don't cry." He mouthed, though the anger was still very evident. And then I registered what he'd said and put a hand to my cheek to find tears creating a steady stream. I didn't want to die, really. I may not like the way I look or sound, but I couldn't put my mother through the pain of losing her only child.

"Let her go." Aiden demanded not so calmly, making the leader chuckle amusedly.
"Now why would I do that hm?" He asked, obviously playing a game with my friend.
"What do you have to gain in killing or taking her? Nothing. There's no-"
"Ah but that's where you're wrong boy. We'll be kings."
A shot sounded, quickly followed by a piercing scream. My scream.

I stumbled back a step as my hand moved to the bloody hole in my chest, quickly getting covered in the sticky redness. I fell to the ground as my vision dimmed from the panic. My chest heaved and I begged for my lungs to take in the air as pain rocked through my body.
"Kendra!"
I couldn't focus. My mind was drifting between reality and dreams. The pain in my chest grew, as did the panic, but I was running out of air. I clawed at my throat, desperate to breathe the air I'd taken for granted.

It felt like an eternity passed before the pain began to web away and peace settled into my stomach, like a comfy cat. My lungs still wouldn't take in the air, but I no longer was afraid. I couldn't even tell what was happened, all I saw was black. I heard nothing, I smelt nothing and I saw nothing. Just black.
A moment later and I heard a small thump, and after a few seconds there was another. It was like this for a little while, gradually getting slower and slower. Until there was nothing.

Overwhelming silence engulfed me and I was suddenly aware that I could open my eyes. It was all black, I don't know why I even bothered, until I turned and saw a dark tunnel with a small light at the end. The tunnel was lighter than I'd thought it be if this is what I thought it was -death. The walk to the afterlife- but then I quickly realized it was because I'd always had good vision, especially in the dark.

I stared at the light for a solid minute and was about to make my way towards it, I was dead, there was no coming back, until I saw a dark, wooden door barely noticeable in the tunnel. If I hadn't had my eyes I probably would've missed it.
Did I want to see where it led? I was dead anyway, so nothing could be done for that. Why not have a little adventure and leave my old life behind with style?
So, with that encouraging thought, I pushed open the heavy door and fell into a dark pit.

~~~~

I woke with a start, my lungs expanding on their own accord and taking in the fresh, crisp air greedily. My first thought was if I'd been kidnapped. The air was too fresh for my bedroom. But then I felt the grass beneath my fingers and my eyes shot open, taking in large mass of trees surrounding me. The memories of what had happened flash through my mind and I hugged my legs to my chest, taking in deep breaths to calm myself.

So, I died. But somehow here I am, in the middle of an enormous forest, alive and well. There's not even a joke! Think Kendra, what do you need first.
A reliable source of water. Food would be easy enough, I could already see tons of plants, though I've never seen any of the berries before so maybe I should wait on that one.

I got to my feet and stood quietly for a long time, trying to pick out the sound of moving water.  With no luck I set off in a random direction, glimpsing up at the sky every so often to check the sun. For some reason mom thought it'd be a good idea to learn how to read the suns position to get a close to exact estimate of time of day and honestly I couldn't be happier that she had.
If time went how it should it was roughly four o'clock in the afternoon, but that wouldn't tell me much otherwise. For all I know the sun could turn off in an instant and a thousand different predators could find me and have a midnight snack.